Tag Archives: body

Spiritual eating is adopting a lighter, high vibration diet and eating more mindfully. It involves being more aware of what and how you eat. People choose to practice spiritual eating for a variety of reasons, namely to raise their personal energy vibration, improve physical health and mental wellbeing and to practice what Buddhists call non-harmfulness.

Raising your Energy Vibration

Food in its natural state – termed raw, living plant based food – has the highest vibration of all. It includes fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains that have not been cooked above 48 degrees C. Vegan food (no animal or fish products) is high vibration, as is food that is without pesticides, additives, GM etc. At the opposite end of the spectrum, manufactured processed food including junk food and food high in additives or grown with pesticides has a very low vibration. Anything you consume that is actually dead (ie. meat or fish) has no vibration at all.

When you consume food that is fresh and natural, you are absorbing that high vibration into your body. High vibration foods are fruit and veg (even more so when fresh from the plant), salad foods, nuts, seeds and wholegrains. Fresh food has the highest vibration when eaten raw/cold. When food is cooked at high temperature through boiling, frying, grilling, barbecuing etc, much of the nutritional benefit and high energy vibration is lost as enzymes in the food are destroyed. Steaming and low temperature simmering are the best options for cooked food.

The main reason for wanting to raise your personal vibration is to improve your connection to Spirit and spiritual energies. If you are a Reiki or spiritual healer, a high energy vibration enables you to be a clearer channel for higher frequency healing energies. If you wish to develop your psychic and/or mediumship abilities, again the lighter and clearer a channel you are the better. A dense heavy body just weighs you down literally and metaphorically and you have to work extra hard to reach and communicate with your guides and angels. If you eat ‘lighter’, not only will you feel better physically and be more balanced emotionally, your head will be clearer so that you can more easily receive impressions and intuitions from spirit. Interestingly Doreen Virtue recommends eating pineapple to strengthen the pineal gland (relating to the crown and third eye chakras) to stimulate clairvoyance.

Many people like to incorporate a Rainbow Diet – a kind of full spectrum colour eating to energise the chakras. In other words, you need a balance of foods of all the different chakra colours to enable your energy body to be as balanced as possible. For example, red foods energise the root chakra; violet foods energise the third eye chakra.

You should also drink plenty of water, ideally 6-8 glasses a day. Water is a good conductor for psychic energy – which is why many of us receive insight and inspiration when lying in the bath!

Eating Mindfully

Being mindful of what you eat, when and how, is often included as part of a course in Mindfulness Meditation. Doing anything mindfully increases your self-awareness and makes you more present in all areas of your life, enabling you to be more grounded and effective in day-to-day life. When you eat mindfully, you are advised to chew your food very thoroughly in the mouth before swallowing. Chew each mouthful up to 40 times. This will help with the digestion process as food is then partially digested in the mouth before it hits the stomach. The body therefore needs to use less energy to digest the meal in the gut. Chewing food mindfully also makes you notice when you are actually full and need no more. It also heightens the sensory experience of taste and texture.

Most of the time people eat distractedly – watching television, talking to family/friends, thinking about problems or things they need to do, or just eating in a hurry because they need to do something else. Food is just shovelled down as quickly as possible with no thought to digesting it properly or savouring the taste. It is easy to eat more than you really need when you’re distracted. Eating mindfully both increases your self-awareness and improves your digestion.

Practising Non-Harmfulness

This Buddhist tenet is one that some people on a spiritual path choose to adhere to. Non-harmful eating includes products from animals that may have been killed or harmed in the process of providing that food. This would definitely rule out meat and fish and for some it would include dairy too.

Benefits of Spiritual Eating

This way of eating can be like a physical or spiritual detox. Eating higher vibration, raw, natural foods in particular can have a cleansing effect on the body. Digestion improves, allergies and intolerances are reduced, the immune system is boosted, energy levels improve and aches and pains including headaches are reduced. Physical health improves when you reduce or eliminate the unhealthy processed foods that cause inflammation and poor digestive health. Some people experience greater emotional balance and wellbeing – they are more tolerant, have greater ‘acceptance’ and less anger. A lot of negative emotions are caught up in what we eat and within our actual eating patterns which can gradually be released as we adopt a more healthy way of eating. Some people may find they have more intense dreams which can be a sign of a releasing of emotions on a subconscious level. Spiritual eating can also boost the depth and quality of your meditation practice.

Spiritual eating makes you more aware of what you are consuming. You start to see food as the fuel you give your body and sometimes you realise that the body isn’t running as well as it should. If you feel lethargic, low in energy, foggy headed or have digestive issues, eating more raw natural foods can make a huge improvement.

I have been on my own healthy plant based diet for 3 months now. In addition to losing a stone and a half in weight (which was much needed!), I have found a huge improvement in my digestive healthy and immune system. I feel ‘lighter’, more energised and more clear-headed. I also know I am being guided and motivated by Spirit and there seems to be a real improvement in the power of my Reiki treatments.

Notes:-

If you are cutting out meat altogether you will need to take a Vitamin B12 supplement as this vitamin is only found in meat. (I have however recently discovered that apricots help the body create its own bioactive B12.) Vitamin B12 is available from health stores and I recommend Little London Herbal Stores on Trinity Walk, Nottingham.

Starting with the April Newsletter I will be looking at the Rainbow Diet, starting with the Root Chakra in April. I will be introducing a series of Chakra Shakes – a smoothie recipe to energise each chakra – as well as including suggested foods you can eat to energise each one. April starts with a delicious Cherry Berry Smoothie to energise the root chakra.

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Healer/Teacher, Meditation Teacher and Holistic Therapist based at 15 Wheeler Gate in Nottingham city centre. She is also currently studying Raw Food Nutrition to find out more about the healing power of natural food. Helen offers several healing treatments such as Reiki, Angelic Reiki, Faery Reiki, Angel Therapy and Fairy Blessing Guided Journey, as well as Usui Reiki and Faery Reiki training courses. She has been on the spiritual path for 15 years and has extensive knowledge of healing and the healing journey. For further information about her Reiki courses, therapies and workshops, please visit her website http://helenshortland.comorvisit and‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics & Enchantment.

After over-indulgence at Christmas and New Year, January is often the month when we think about detoxing. During the digestive process everything you consume is broken down to release products that are useful to the body, while the unwanted by-products and toxins are converted into waste and expelled in the form of urine, faeces, sweat and carbon dioxide. The vital organs, comprising kidneys, liver, lungs, lymphatic system and skin, work together to rid your body of potentially harmful toxins.

Normally the body is very efficient at processing waste. However, if it becomes over-burdened with toxins, ie. when we over-indulge over several days, the elimination process is compromised and the body begins to store toxins instead. As the level of harmful toxins builds up, the efficiency of the organs is reduced and the immune system is suppressed, impairing your overall state of health and wellbeing. By adjusting your diet and lifestyle, you can reduce your exposure to toxins and aid more efficient excretion.

Symptoms of Toxic Build-Up

Toxic overload manifests as a general feeling of being unwell with the following symptoms:-

Regular headaches

Constant fatigue

Poor complexion and dull hair and eyes

High levels of catarrh and congested sinuses

Cellulite, water retention and a feeling of bloatedness

Sluggish digestion and susceptibility to constipation and irritable bowel syndrome(IBS)

Mood changes, depression and anxiety

A weakened immune system.

Digestion

Your health is more or less governed by what you eat. Helpful bacteria in the gut play an important part in the digestive process. If these become depleted however due to poor diet, antibiotics or toxin overload, food can remain in the intestines in a semi-digested state and a number of digestive problems can arise, including constipation, painful wind and IBS. Supplements such as digestive aids and probiotics can help improve general gut health.

The Role of the Excretory Organs in the Digestive Process

Kidneys: The kidneys work together to filter your blood, removing toxins and expelling them in the form of urine. They also play a vital role in regulating the amount of fluid in the body and processing the by-products of digestion. Too much alcohol and persistent infections can damage your kidneys.

Liver: The liver processes everything that enters the body, including medication as well as food and drink. It has a number of functions including the removal of toxins from the bloodstream. Harmful substances are neutralised by the liver and passed into the intestines in the form of bile where they are eventually expelled as faeces. If the liver becomes overworked, it begins to store toxins rather than neutralise them. This can lead to problems such as diabetes, hepatitis and liver cirrhosis.

Lymphatic System: This is a series of vessels carrying lymph fluid that runs alongside the blood vessels. Toxins and waste drain into the lymphatic system and are transported to the lymph nodes where they are filtered out. High levels of toxins slow down the lymphatic system, leading to a poor immune system and the build-up of cellulite.

Skin: Every poor in the skin eliminates waste in the form of sweat and sebum (an oily substance that moisturises the skin). The state of your skin is a reflection of your health since stress, poor health and toxin build-up can all manifest as a poor complexion.

Lungs: These organs filter out airborne pollutants such as carbon monoxide, allowing oxygen to enter the bloodstream and waste products to be removed in the form of carbon dioxide. However when levels of toxins in the body build up, this can lead to recurrent health problems such as excess catarrh.

Notes:

The Aqua Detox Foot Spa treatment is on offer for just £19 during January 2014. During this treatment toxins are released through the pores in the soles of the feet while the ionisation unit helps to restore the correct balance of positive and negative ions in the body to boost wellbeing.

2. Reflexology, which can promote detoxification; massage treatments to promote lymphatic drainage, and a range of facials to boost the appearance of the skin, are also available from Helen Shortland.

Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Teacher, Meditation Teacher and Holistic Therapist based at Little London Herbal Stores on Kings Walk in Nottingham city centre. Please ring her on 07748 591690 to book a treatment or visit her website http://helenshortland.com for further information.